Siege of Troia (1022)

The Siege of Troia occurred in 1022 when the army of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II unsuccessfully laid siege to the Byzantine city of Troia in southern Italy.

Following the Battle of Cannae in 1018, the Byzantine commander Basil Boioannes gained a newfound respect for the Franco-Norsemen mercenaries, the Normans, and bribed a contingent of knights to his side and gave them command of the newly-built fortress town of Troia.

The leader of the Lombard revolt at Cannae, Melus of Bari, died in 1020 while in exile at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, a rival of the Byzantine Empire. When Boioannes captured Garigliano in 1021 and had Melus' brother-in-law Dattus gruesomely executed by drowning him in a sack shared by a monkey, a rooster, and a snake, an outraged Pope Benedict VII persuaded Henry to intervene in southern Italy.

In 1022, Henry II personally commanded a large imperial force which invaded southern Italy to assert his control over the region, marching on Troia. The Norman mercenaries in Boioannes' employ proved their mettle by routing the Imperials, who were unable to take the city despite a long siege. Boioannes granted the town privileges for its loyalty, and the Normans acquired a reputation as Southern Europe's premier mercenaries. The Byzantines, Pope, the Emperor, and the Lombard princes would all hire Norman mercenaries to fight against the other factions for them. The Franco-Norse knights often found themselves fighting against each other, but Normans on the winning side often used their leverage as irreplaceable allies to secure the release of their brethren on the losing side.